History Recap / TheSopranosS6E11ColdStones

* AmbiguousSituation: Did Phil deliberately come out of the motel closet to taunt Vito for being gay? Or did he [[FreudianSlip subconsciously slip]] that he's ArmoredClosetGay and LateComingOut?

* ArmoredClosetGay:
** Played with. The series starts to drop hints, that are never fully confirmed either way, that Phil's homophobia may actually be a surface cover for deeply buried homosexual yearnings. Fat Dom and Gerry beat Vito into submission, only for Phil himself to [[RuleOfSymbolism part the doors of the closet]] and reveal himself to Vito.
** He also vehemently tells another mobster to turn off the TV when it features half-naked male bodybuilders flexing their muscles on stage. Then he states "[He] loved [Vito] like a brother-in-law", which sounds oddly phrased.
** By the end of the episode, while his wife sleeps, he remains awake, staring at the ceiling, with his fingers intertwined, close to his chest.

* BuryYourGays: Phil orders Gerry and Fat Dom to beat Vito to death with steel batons and sodomize him with a pool cue for being gay. A true hate crime by any measure.

* ClubKid: Marie and Patty seem to buy that Vito and every other gay man must fall into this stereotype.

** Johnny Cakes assumes Vito wants to go back to Jersey, partly because everyone will go back to kissing Vito's ass there. He has no idea what kind of situation Vito is really in, but he can't be faulted for that either.

* FamilyHonor: And of course, Phil's order to have Vito beaten to death was motivated by erasing the shame of Vito having been married to Phil's own cousin, Marie.

** Patty Leotardo, even worse than Phil.

** But of course Phil gets in first and has Fat Dom and Gerry beat Vito to death with steel batons.
** And Carlo in turn actually praises Phil for the deed.
* HomophobicHateCrime: Vito is brutally murdered and sodomized by Phil and his men for the sole crime of being a homosexual.

* IWasNeverHere: After setting eyes on Fat Dom's dead body, Tony quickly flees and makes gestures to this effect.

* GoldenAge: Paulie is certainly of the view, with Vito being homosexual and Chris going to AA meetings, that TheMafia just ain't what it used to be. [[SarcasmMode "Salvatore Luciana (Lucky Luciano) must be looking down on all of us with great pride."]]

Tony ultimately decides that he can't get out of having Vito killed. Allowing Vito to live risks the loss of authority with his own men, and increasing hostility from the New York family now led by Phil. Tony attempts to lure Vito into a trap by pretending to accept the offer and setting up another meeting in the food court, but assigning Carlo the task of taking out Vito.

However, Vito that same night enters his own motel room. He is ambushed and beaten into submission with steel batons by Fat Dom and Gerry of the New York family. They also tape gag him so that he can't cry for help. Phil emerges from the closet, and an utterly terrified Vito tries desperately to beg for his life through his gag. Phil nods to Gerry, and Gerry and Fat Dom proceed to beat Vito to death. They also ram a pool cue up Vito's anus as a deliberate message to Tony.

Tony and the other mobsters are also horrified to learn what happened to Vito, with the notable exception of Carlo. Tony and Silvio understand perfectly what message Phil intended. Phil can do as he pleases to Tony's own capos and made men, and Tony won't be able to do anything about it. They decide to make a move against Phil's gambling racket.

Fat Dom shows up at Satriale's to give Silvio a payment from some gamblers sent by Silvio. He gloats over them about Vito's death, and cracks jokes about the rest of the Jersey mobsters themselves being gay. His behavior greatly annoys Silvio and Carlo who suggest that he leave. But when Fat Dom responds by continues his joking (including a suggestion that Carlo is gay as well), it proves to be the RageBreakingPoint for both of them. The whole thing escalates to a chaotic melee as Silvio and Carlo gang up on and physically attack Fat Dom, with Carlo grabbing a kitchen knife and stabbing the New York mobster to death. Tony eventually learns what has happened to Fat Dom when he later enters Satriale's, despite Silvio telling him to not come inside, and finds Dom's body hidden under a table cloth. Tony quickly decides to wash his hands of the whole affair, and tells Silvio and Carlo to just get rid of the body however they see fit.

** In Carmela's dream, Adriana tells her that she found her dog Cosette (in the afterlife). Cosette was accidentally killed in "[[Recap/TheSopranosS4E10TheStrongSilentType The Strong, Silent Type]]".

* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Tony correctly assesses that Phil is constantly driven by an "alpha of the pack" mentality. Phil always has to try and project an image of tough authority to hold onto being Boss of the New York family, even if it leads to less than practical decisions.

** Fat Dom participates in the murder of Vito, then arrives at Satriale's to gloat about it. He also taunts Silvio and Carlo with jokes that imply that the Jersey mobsters must by association themselves be homosexual.

* PeerPressureMakesYouEvil: Tony is relatively tolerant of Vito's homosexuality compared to some of the other mobsters. And he would otherwise be ok with Vito starting over at a two-hours away Atlantic City. But pressure from both his own men and the New York family led by Phil eventually persuades him to order a hit on Vito.

* SadisticChoice, and ultimately informed by PragmaticVillainy: Tony, everything else being equal, would be ok with Vito bringing in money through a meth and prostitute operation in Atlantic City. But he ultimately decides that it's not worth risking TheMutiny by his own men, and the hassle of increasing hostility from Phil and the rest of the New York family. Tony orders Vito's death, although Phil beats him to the punch.

* WhamEpisode: A main character in [[AnyoneCanDie Vito]] is brutally murdered by Phil and his New York henchmen, in disregard for rules requiring a sit-down and authorization before a made man can be touched. Silvio and Carlo in turn impulsively murder a made man from New York, likewise without authorization. Tony and Phil's professional relationship deteriorates even further on account of Vito and other matters. The dam hasn't burst just yet, but everything is now gravitating towards an all-out war between New Jersey and New York.

* AssholeVictim: Fat Dom, one of Vito's murderers, goes to Satriale to make a payment to Silvio and begins cracking jokes about the New Jersey mobsters being gay and basically gloating about having killed him.

** Fat Dom gets rapped upside the head with a portable vacuum, choked, and stabbed multiple times by Carlo and Silvio for cracking one too many jokes about the Jersey mobsters being gay.

* ArmorPiercingResponse: Tony tries to minimize his own responsibility for what's about to go down on Vito by saying, "If Vito wanted to pursue that lifestyle, he should have done so quietly." Silvio asks, "He was, wasn't he?" and Tony has nothing to say in reply. Vito however wasn't exactly careful, giving oral sex on a workplace where other "friends of ours" are present doing no-show jobs and dressing up and dancing in a New York gay bar that kicked up to the Lupertazzi Family.

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Carlo stabs Fat Dom over and over and over again, and does not stop until Dom falls dead on the table.

* ToughLove: Tony forces A.J. to take up a construction labor job with his connections or move out.

* SurroundedByIdiots: Tony's son is a LazyBum and a SpoiledBrat. Phil and the other New York mobsters jerk his chain every chance they get. Neither his own men nor the New York mobsters will ever let Vito start over in distant Atlantic City, even though it would mean a steady stream of cash. Then Silvio, his trusted [[TheConsigliere Consigliere]] of all people, and Carlo create another problem for him by taking out a made man from New York without authorization. His feeling of being Surrounded By Idiots 24/7 is definitely amplified in this episode.

* StealingFromTheTill: The reason A.J. got fired from Blockbuster.

* {{Sadist}}: Phil showed shades of this in earlier episodes but it becomes fully apparent here, he has Vito killed in a needlessly over-the-top and brutal fashion for no apparent reason than ForTheEvulz, and personally oversees the hit just so he could taunt Vito and watch him die in person. He even has hints of a PsychoticSmirk on his face as he watches Vito being beaten to death by his men.

** Phil races to take out Vito on the assumption that Tony was going to continue to tolerate Vito's homosexuality. Little did he know that Tony already had a hit set up on Vito.

** Phil raced to take out Vito on the assumption that Tony was going to continue to tolerate Vito's homosexuality. Little did he know that Tony already had a hit set up on Vito.

** Fat Dom gets stabbed multiple times by Carlo for cracking one too many jokes about the Jersey mobsters being gay.

* CallBack: Carmela believes that Adriana left Christopher but her dream suggests that Adriana is dead. In Season 2 Tony's dream reveals the truth about Big Pussy working with the FBI, and in Season 5 a dream indicates that he would need to kill his cousin, Tony Blundetto.

Fat Dom shows up at Satriale's to give Silvio a payment from some gamblers sent by Silvio. He gloats over them about Vito's death, and cracks jokes about the rest of the Jersey mobsters themselves being gay. His behavior greatly annoys Silvio and Carlo who suggest that he leave. But when Fat Dom responds by continues his jokes, it proves the RageBreakingPoint for both of them. The whole thing escalates to a chaotic melee as Silvio and Carlo gang up on and physically attack Fat Dom, with Carlo grabbing a kitchen knife and stabbing the New York mobster to death. Tony eventually learns what has happened to Fat Dom when he later enters Satriale's, despite Silvio telling him to not come inside, and finds Dom's body hidden under a table cloth. Tony quickly decides to wash his hands of the whole affair, and tells Silvio and Carlo to just get rid of the body however they see fit.

** Played with. The series starts to drop hints, that are never fully confirmed either way, that Phil's homophobia may actually be a surface cover for deeply buried homosexual yearnings. Fat Dom and Gerry beat Vito into submission, only for Phil to [[RuleOfSymbolism part the doors of the closet]] and reveal himself to Vito.

* AlasPoorVillain: Mixed with AssholeVictim. While Vito was an unrepentant scumbag and murderer, his final terrified moments before Phil and his men brutally and sadistically beat him to death can evoke pity from the viewers, as he wasn't killed for being a mafioso but for being gay. Even most of the crew is visibly perturbed when they find out, despite having been about to have Vito whacked themselves. The reaction of his wife and children only makes it worse.